First Obama, then Red Sox and Rays, pile on sportswriters

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Following up on the MLBPA’s charges of collusion in regard to Barry Bonds, the Baseball Writers Assn. of America should pursue similar allegations against not only Barack Obama but also Major League Baseball, the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays.

Early on Thursday, Obama’s campaign bought commercial time on the TV networks that would delay the start of Game 6 of the World Series, thus costing my colleagues in the BBWAA essential deadline writing time, as well as any chance for last call at the Marriott bar.

Then the Red Sox made a near-historic comeback last night. The game lasted four hours and eight minutes, ending well after midnight on the East Coast and causing great duress for the overworked, underpaid baseball writers.

Tampa Bay should have coasted home in no more than three hours and eight minutes, but Rays Manager Joe Maddon, whose decision to bump up Scott Kazmir in the starting rotation looked smart through six innings, was let down by his bullpen.

Furthermore, the baseball writers, who were looking at five days off before the start of the World Series, had to get up early this morning and beat it down to Florida for tomorrow’s Game 6 in an American League championship series that should have been finished.

And it’s clear from the comments generated by my Thursday post that many of you feel our pain.

‘No question it’s collusion against the BBWAA,’’ said my good friend, Joe the Baseball Writer.

-- Randy Harvey